Patent GB-739601-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in or relating to apparatus for feeding sheets to a machine or press
Inventor: SAUL AUGUST ALVIN
IPC: B65H11/00
Filed: 1953-04-20
Abstract: 739,601. Feeding sheets. MILLER PRINTING MACHINERY CO. April 20, 1953, No. 10737/53. Class 100 (1). Feed tables ; sheet - forwarders.-apparatus for feeding sheets to a cylinder or other printing press comprises a pivotally mounted feed board with a carriage oscillatable thereon for feeding sheets, the feed board being pivotally mounted near the middle of its length so that it is approximately balanced and can be readily pivoted by hand to different positions, and means for fastening the board in at least one position. The sheetfeeding apparatus 3 is shown as applied to a cylinder printing press 2, and comprises a frame 6 pivoted to the press frame 4 by a vertical pivot 7. The pivot 7 is a shaft passing through bosses 8, 9 on the gear side of the press, whereby the feeder can be swung laterally to allow access to the press. A shaft 11, which serves as the horizontal pivot for a feed board 12 and to drive an oscillating carriage 13 (not shown) along the feed board, is mounted in bushings in side projections 10 of the feed frame 6. The feed board 12 has lower hubs through which the shaft 11 passes, and is substantially balanced about the shaft 11, so that an operator can, without much effort, swing the board upwardly to permit access to the press 2. The board normally tends to swing counterclockwise, viewing Fig. 1, about the shaft 11. To facilitate clockwise movement of the board and to provide a cushioning means during counterclockwise movement, each pivot hub of the board has pivoted thereto one end of a rod 12c which is guided in a fixed stud 12e, and a spring 12f is arranged on the rod between the pivot and the stud 12e. The board 12 has studs thereon which enter register holes in the press frame 4, and the board is latched to the frame as described below. Sheets are separated from a pile and fed by the carriage 13 along the feed board to the impression cylinder 5 of the press by known means. For example, a sheet separated 'by suckers from a pile is taken by suckers mounted on the right-hand side of the carriage 13. The carriage moves along the board 12 to a position about half-way therealong, the sheet is released and retained on the board by stationary suckers, and the carriage returns towards the pile for another sheet. On the succeeding motion of the carriage, suckers on the opposite end of the carriage feed the first sheet to a point of registry adjacent the cylinder 5. The carriage is oscillated by pinions. 15, Fig. 5, on the shaft 11 which engage racks on the carriage. A hook-shaped arm 21 fixed to a cross-shaft 22 on the feed board 12 has a screw 19 therein which engages under an extension 17 of the press frame 4, when the shaft is turned by a handle 23, to lock the board to the frame 4. A rod 26 pivoted to an arm secured to the shaft 22 has a hook-shaped end 27 which, when the shaft is turned to release the feed board 12 for tilting, protrudes into the path of the carriage 13,  and holds it when the board is tilted. A rod 37 also connected to the shaft 22 is pivoted to a bell-crank lever 39, 43, Fig. 5, the arm 43 carrying a pin riding in an annular groove in a pinion 47 rotatable and slidable on the shaft 11. With the feed board 12 in operative position, the pinion is in engagement with an inside gear 49 keyed to the shaft 11, so that the pinion 47 can drive the shaft 11, but when the cross-shaft 22 is turned to unlock the feed board, the pinion is withdrawn from the gear 49. A pin on tho pinion engages within a bore in the gear 49 to ensure correct timing between the carriage 13 and other parts of the feeder. Additional means is provided to hold the pinion and gear apart when the feed board is raised. A sleeve comprising a circular rack 64 is adapted to slide vertically on the pivot shaft 7, and is actuated by a link 71 connected to a crank driven from the press. The rack 64 is reciprocated up and down the shaft 7 and is at all times in mesh with the pinion 47 even when the board 12 is tilted and the feeder is swung away from the press about the shaft 7. Side registration of sheets.-Known means for registering the sheets transversely is operated by an oscillating cross-rod 131, Fig. 5, one end of which is connected to one arm of a three-armed lever 132 pivoted at 136 to the feed board 12. The lever 132 is oscillated by a link 137 pivoted to an upwardly projecting arm 141 of a bellcrank lever 142, Fig. 1, the lower arm 144 of which carries a follower engaging in a cam groove in the face of one of the pinions 15 which oscillate the carriage 13.